Rado’s NHRA Finals Rampage on Success

By:  Chris Harrington

October 23, 2006 – Pomona, CA.   Chris Rado’s late season revival continued in Southern California at the NHRA Sport Compact World Finals.  After totally dominating qualifying with a slew of seven-second passes, Rado and his Scion, WORLD electronics, WORLD Motorsports, ACT, Bosch, JE Pistons, Weismann and Goodridge sponsored Scion tC crowned his season with a final round appearance against champion Ed Bergenholtz.

In a gripping final round race, Rado and Bergenholtz had the fans on their feet as they tore up the Pomona strip.  Both drivers are wily veterans of the sport and each was on a mission to take home the final “Wally” of the 2006 season.  As the cars crossed the finish line inches apart, Bergenholtz barely snatched the win leaving Rado to reflect on a season that saw him regain his status as a front-runner in the toughest class in the sport compact arena.

“Coming into this event we were very optimistic because we solved a driveline issue that had been limiting our top speed.  As usual with these things, it was a ridiculously simple solution that resulted in us picking up over 16 MPH in the quarter-mile.  Obviously I was hoping to do well for all of our sponsors but especially for Scion as they had a huge presence at this event and they have been very supportive while we have been figuring out this new race-car.”

Rado went on to explain what happened during Saturdays qualifying sessions:
“We took the car to the line for the first session not knowing if we had really solved our top-speed issue.  The car launched hard and just kept on accelerating all the way to the finish line, it was a smooth run with absolutely no drama - normally a good sign- and I have to admit that I was stoked to see the time-slip: 7.685 @ 191.16 MPH!
That was enough to put our Scion tC at the top of the qualifying order after the first round.”

Crew chief Shane Tecklenburg was more than satisfied after the first qualifying session.
“Gary (Kubo) and I have been chasing the set-up and we knew we were making plenty of power but we seemed to run into a brick wall at 174 MPH.  Finally we figured it all out with the help of Chris Weismann and it’s a huge relief to see us break through that barrier.   As Rado crossed the finish line and the time came up on the scoreboard we all looked at each other and allowed ourselves a moment of celebration.  It’s only one pass, but it was huge for Christian and our team all who have worked so hard to get the car where it is.  It seems that every time we run the car we make significant improvements and we are very confident that we are only just starting to get it performing to our own high expectations.”

Seven-second heaven continued in the second qualifying session and if anything the second pass gave Rado’s opponents even more to worry about as the Scion tC stopped the timers at 7.650 sec @ 160.29 MPH. This pass was a new best E.T. for Rado and was achieved despite a bad case of clutch slip in second half of the track.

“We just blew through the clutch.”  Rado explained.  “After the first round, we decided to raise the boost to increase the power.  Unfortunately, the clutch couldn’t handle the extra power and we ended up crossing the line 30 MPH slower than the first pass with a better E.T.   Who knows what the car would have run if the clutch had held up?  I’m sure it would have been a real stunner.”

Going into the third round the WORLD Racing pit crew re-adjusted the clutch in the hope that Rado could raise the bar a little more in the World’s fastest front-wheel-drive drag racing class.  As the black tC stormed down the strip it started to smoke, and despite what proved to be a major mechanical problem, the tC still ran yet another strong pass with a 7.715 @ 177.81 MPH.

Tecklenburg explained what happened, “Any one of our three qualifying passes was good enough to lead the field so we are very pleased with the way our program has progressed.  Lets face it, we’re only made twenty passes on the car and our opponents have made hundreds so we are doing pretty good.  We torched the cylinder head on the last pass so we had to get the car fixed on Saturday night so we could be ready for action on Sunday’s eliminations.  We had to use an un-tested head and cam combination so the guys really had their work cut out and I doubt that we could have managed without the extra help that we had.  The whole crew was awesome, but I must pay a special thanks to Leith Tecklenburg, Allan Shaw and Tom Esbri for all of their hard work and dedication over the weekend.  Its amazing how much work you can get out of the ‘Gnarly old racers‘ when you hook them up to an arterial coffee drip.”

The team’s late night antics looked like minor issues however after Saturday’s qualifying action.  Two of the team’s rivals had high speed crashes that resulted in heavy damage to their cars so Rado was gifted a free pass to the final with two bye runs.

Despite gaining an easy path to the finals, Rado’s main concern was the well being of his racing rivals.  “Brian Jiminez and Gary Gardella both hit the wall at high speeds during qualifying and my best wishes go out to them.  I would much rather have raced them to get to the finals and I’m sure we will have plenty more races in the future but right now the main thing is that they are both doing well.”

On Sunday, with a spot in the final already clinched thanks to an exceptional qualifying performance, the only question remaining was could they get an un-tested head and cams dialed in in time for the final?  Two solo bye runs in the first and second rounds of eliminations saw the team struggling to come up with an effective tune-up.  Gary Kubo, the teams head mechanic explained why, “We had no choice but to change the head and cams.  Unfortunately, we hadn’t had a chance to test the combination and it really threw everything off to a huge degree.  We had no idea what cam timing would be most effective and the change also meant our fuel, ignition and clutch set-ups were a mile off.
In the end, we took a chance and took our best shot.  We definitely had our fingers crossed when we lined up against Ed Bergenholtz for the finals considering that the car could barely make it down the track in the first and second rounds.”

The highly anticipated finals against Bergenholtz proved to be worthy of the build-up. After a huge burnout Rado brought the black Scion tC into the beams and when the lights dropped both cars sprinted towards the finish line. At one-hundred feet, Bergenholtz held a slight advantage, but Rado was gaining and it looked like it was going to be a tight finish.  As the cars crossed the line at the quarter mile, Bergenholtz snatched the win by a few inches. 

Despite losing in the finals, Rado was pleased with the teams overall performance.  “I really wanted to win that one for Sheila Swanson and everyone else at Scion.  It’s never easy to lose, but this one was especially tough because we all worked so hard and got so close.  My congratulations go out to Ed and Ron Bergenholtz; you guys earned your win and your championship but don’t get too comfortable because we are coming for you next year!” 

Rado continued, “This event was very important for us and I really believe that we will look back on it as a turning point for the race-team.  Our Scion tC performed incredibly well and we proved that we can compete with anyone.  Our car is a joy to drive and it is still under development.  We won’t be backing off over the winter months and I’m confident that with more testing and development we’ll get even faster.  Next year will be a great one in the Pro-FWD class.  It has developed into the most entertaining class to watch with side-by-side racing at speeds that were unthinkable a few years ago.  After a tough couple of years our persistence has finally paid off and we are going to be the team to beat in ’07.

I would also like to thank all of the fans who came to the race and lent their support. You’re the reason I do this stuff and I can only hope that you continue to provide the inspiration for us to keep pushing the limits.
      
My crew is the best.  Bar none, Shane Tecklenburg, Gary Kubo, Frank Piccone, Eric Plebani, Kurt Siebels and Tyler Cooley.  Thanks to all of you for your hard work, dedication and moral support.  It’s a pleasure to work with the best crew in Sport Compact drag racing.

To all of my sponsors, Scion, WORLD electronics, WORLD Motorsports, ACT, Bosch, JE Pistons, Weismann and Goodridge, a huge THANKS for everything!  Without your support it simply would not have happen.

Lastly, but most importantly, I want to pay a special loving thanks to my parents, Joe and Elaine Rado and my sisters for everything.  Your love and support has always been huge, especially when I have needed guidance and a sympathetic ear.”

For more information please go to: www.world-racing.com